This #TravelTuesday I want to you journey with me to São Paulo, Brazil.

Born 1 August 1938, Raimundo worked as a gardener & bookseller. However, in the late 1970s, early 1980s, nearly at the end of the military dictatorship of Brazil, he became homeless.

Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho lived in anonymity for 35 long years, just one more faceless member of the thousands of people that make up Brazil's homeless population. Every day, he gathered whatever paper he could and honed his skills as a poet and philosopher. He sat in the same spot every day, his "island" as he called it, and every day people walked by without giving him a second thought. To the world, he was just one more dirty old homeless man occupying the streets.

It only takes One. One person. One encounter. One conversation.

Raimundo's wildest dreams was that maybe his words would be remembered one day, maybe they might be published, but he knew deep down that they would probably never be read by anyone at all. Then, one day, in the spring of 2011, something happened that changed his life forever.

A young woman named Shalla Monteiro took notice of him and befriended the old man. She would stop by every day to chit chat with him, and one day Raimundo gave her one of his poems. She decided to make him a Facebook page so his poems and stories could be shared with others. What happened next is a miracle. Watch the video below to learn more.

The power of connection. It could be as simple as pausing to chat with that person on the other side of the room. Or sending an encouraging text to a family member. Or introducing a friend to a fellow colleague.

We never know the ripple effect as we create points of association between ourselves and others. The world isn’t as separate as we imagine it to be.

So why not take the time to hear each other’s stories? And even champion each other’s dreams? Who knows–the doors we unlock for others may just swing wide open to usher us into our own destinies.